Biosimilars Naming and Labeling
Transcript of Biosimilars Naming and Labeling
Biosimilars Naming and Labeling A Study of U.S. Pharmacists
Kevin Olson, CEO Industry Standard Research
[email protected] October, 2015
Page 3 Methodology 10 Biosimilars Knowledge 14 Product Naming Attitudes and Beliefs 23 Label Contents Attitudes and Beliefs 35 Study Questionnaire
Table of contents
Pharmacists - Biosimilars Naming and Labeling 2 October 2015
Study methodology • 401 pharmacists • 15-minute web-based survey • All participants based in the U.S. • Participants recruited from large, global panel of healthcare professionals • Participants screened as follows:
– Must be employed in either Hospital / Health System pharmacy or Retail pharmacy setting
– Must dispense biologic medicines – Must have been in practice as a pharmacist for 1 year or more
• Participants received a standard cash stipend for their time • Study was sponsored by ASBM and administered by Industry Standard
Research, LLC
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 4 October 2015
Sample characteristics Practice Setting Years in Practice
0%
19%
21%
27%
22%
12%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
Less than 1 year
1-5 years
6-10 years
11-20 years
21-30 years
More than 30 years
% of Respondents
Hospital / Health
System, 60%
Retail, 40%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 5 October 2015
Familiarity with Orange Book
0%
4%
32%
64%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
I've never heard of it
Vaguely familiar
Somewhat familiar
Very familiar
% of Respondents
• Question – “How familiar are you with the “Orange book”, that is,
the resource for Approved Drug Products with Therapeutic Equivalence Evaluations?”
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 6 October 2015
Frequency of Orange Book use
6%
41%
24%
23%
6%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%
Never
Rarely
Monthly
Weekly
Daily
% of Respondents
• Question – “How often in your work do you use or refer to the
“Orange Book”?”
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 7 October 2015
Familiarity with Purple Book
28%
34%
29%
9%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
I've never heard of it
Vaguely familiar
Somewhat familiar
Very familiar • Question
– “How familiar are you with the “Purple Book”, that is, the resource for Lists of Licensed Biological Products with Reference Product Exclusivity and Biosimilarity or Interchangeability Evaluations?”
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 8 October 2015
Frequency of Purple Book use
49%
30%
12%
7%
2%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Never
Rarely
Monthly
Weekly
Daily • Question – “How often in your work do you use or refer to the
“Purple Book”?”
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 9 October 2015
Familiarity with biosimilars
0%
8%
57%
35%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Have never heard of them
I've heard of them but could not define them
Familiar, have a basic understanding of them
Very familiar, I have a complete understanding of them
% of Respondents
• Question – “Biosimilar medicines are intended to be copies of
already approved biologic medicines. They are referred to as “biosimilar” rather than “generic” because they will be similar, but not identical to the product they copy. How familiar are you with biosimilar medicines?”
• Segment Difference – Hospital pharmacists are more likely to be “Very
familiar…” with biosimilars than retail pharmacists. 44% vs. 23%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 11 October 2015
Awareness of biosimilars approval process
Yes, 86%
No, 14% • Question
– “Originator medicines are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration based on an evaluation of clinical data that demonstrates a medicine is safe and effective for the specified indication and data must be provided for every indication. The approval pathway for biosimilars is different than for originator medicines. Are you aware a biosimilar medicine may be approved for several or all indications of the reference product on the basis of clinical trials in only one of those indications?”
• Segment Difference – Hospital pharmacists are more likely to respond “Yes”
than retail pharmacists. 91% vs. 78%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 12 October 2015
Acceptability of biosimilars approval process
2%
20%
51%
27%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
This is totally unacceptable
This is somewhat unacceptable
This is somewhat acceptable
This is totally acceptable
% of Respondents
• Question – “How do you feel about the fact that a biosimilar
medicine may be approved for several or all indications of the reference product on the basis of clinical trials in only one of those indications?”
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 13 October 2015
Same name = identical?
Yes, 63%
No, 30%
No opinion, 6% • Question
– “If two biologic medicines have the same non-proprietary scientific name, does this suggest to you or imply that the medicines are identical?”
• Segment Difference – Hospital pharmacists are more likely to answer “Yes”
than retail pharmacists. 68% vs. 57%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 15 October 2015
Same name = same result?
• Question – “If two biologic medicines have the same non-
proprietary scientific name, does this suggest to you or imply that a patient could receive either biologic product and expect the same result?”
Yes, 64%
No, 32%
No opinion, 4%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 16 October 2015
Same name = safe switching during treatment?
• Question – “If two biologic medicines have the same non-
proprietary scientific name, does this suggest to you or imply that a patient could be safely switched from a reference biological medicine to its biosimilar during a course of treatment and expect the same result as with either of the products?”
Yes, 58%
No, 37%
No opinion, 5%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 17 October 2015
Same Name = Approved for the same indications?
• Question – “If two biologic medicines have the same non-
proprietary scientific name, does this suggest to you the medicines are approved for the same indications?”
Yes, 55%
No, 41%
No opinion, 4%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 18 October 2015
Should FDA require distinct names?
• Question – “The FDA has proposed a new policy that would
require every biologic – whether originator or biosimilar – to have a distinct non-proprietary scientific name. In your opinion, should the FDA require a distinct non-proprietary scientific name for every biologic product – whether originator or biosimilar – approved by them?” Yes, 68%
No, 23%
No opinion, 8%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 19 October 2015
Representative or random suffix? • Question
– “The FDA has proposed a policy that would require the use of a distinct non-proprietary scientific name for all products, whether originator or biosimilar. This is intended to aid the process of pharmacovigilance and accurate prescribing and dispensing of medicines. In March of 2015, the FDA approved the first biosimilar product for the U.S. market. The product currently carries the scientific name “filgrastim-sndz.” In the case of filgrastim-sndz, the suffix “sndz” is intended to identify Sandoz as the manufacturer of the product. More recently, the FDA has proposed a further change to the naming of biologic products. In the case of filgrastim-sndz, the name would become “filgrastim-bflm,” where the suffix carries no meaning and is not indicative of the product’s manufacturer. For future product approvals, which of the following would you prefer?” Manufacturer
suffix, 77%
Random suffix, 15%
No opinion, 8%
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 20 October 2015
Why representative / random?
• See verbatim responses in attached MS Word file.
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 21 October 2015
Suffix content
47%
7%
38%
21%
6%
11%
7%
31%
1%
30%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Representative suffix is preferable
Random suffix is preferable
% of Respondents
Completely agree Somewhat agree No opinion
Somewhat disagree Completely disagree
• Question – “For purposes of accurately identifying the medicine, a
representative suffix – for example, one that resembles the manufacturer name – is preferable.”
• Question
– “For purposes of accurately identifying the medicine, I prefer a suffix that is a random 4-digit string of characters.”
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 22 October 2015
Indicates biosimilar
1%
2%
13%
23%
58%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
• Question – “How important is it that a product label for a biosimilar
clearly indicates that it is a biosimilar?”
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 24 October 2015
Mean = 4.36
Defines biosimilarity
• Question – “How important is it that a product label for a biosimilar
defines what biosimilarity means?”
3%
10%
20%
30%
37%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 25 October 2015
Mean = 3.89
Analytical data
• Question – “How important is it that the biosimilar label includes
the analytical data developed by the biosimilar sponsor to demonstrate its analytical similarity to the reference product?”
2%
8%
19%
37%
34%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 26 October 2015
Mean = 3.92
Clinical data
• Question – “How important is it that the biosimilar label includes
the clinical data, if any, submitted to FDA by the biosimilar sponsor to demonstrate that it is highly similar to the reference product?”
3%
8%
17%
36%
35%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 27 October 2015
Mean = 3.93
Post-marketing data
• Question – “How important is it that post-marketing data related to
the biosimilar be added to the biosimilar label?”
2%
8%
24%
32%
33%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 28 October 2015
Mean = 3.84
Reference brand name
• Question – “How important is it that the label mentions the
reference product by brand name so as to clarify the precise relationship between the originator product and the biosimilar product?”
• Segment Difference – Retail pharmacists have a higher average rating of
importance for this than hospital pharmacists. 4.14 vs. 3.79
4%
5%
19%
35%
36%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 29 October 2015
Mean = 3.93
Approved and non-approved indications
• Question – “How important is it that the label explicitly states that
specific indications or conditions of use that are approved for the originator product are NOT approved for the biosimilar product?”
• Segment Difference – Retail pharmacists have a higher average rating of
importance for this than hospital pharmacists. 4.32 vs. 3.98
3%
5%
16%
28%
48%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 30 October 2015
Mean = 4.11
Originator vs. biosimilar data
• Question – “How important is it that the label clearly distinguishes
those data generated by the biosimilar sponsor from those generated by the originator sponsor?”
3%
6%
21%
35%
34%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 31 October 2015
Mean = 3.92
Clinical similarity
• Question – “How important is it that the label includes all relevant
clinical similarity data, including clinical immunogenicity findings, from the biosimilar product development?”
2%
7%
23%
35%
33%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 32 October 2015
Mean = 3.89
Data source
• Question – “How important is it that the label makes clear which
indications were studied by the biosimilar sponsor and which indications were approved based on extrapolation from studies in other indications?”
3%
4%
17%
33%
43%
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 33 October 2015
Mean = 4.09
Interchangeability / Substitution
• Question – “How important is it that a product label clearly
indicates a biosimilar is or is not interchangeable, meaning it may be eligible for automatic substitution by a pharmacist depending on the state in which the prescription is written?”
2%
2%
8%
24%
64%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
1 - Not at all important
2
3
4
5 - Very important
% of Respondents
Biosimilar Naming and Labeling 34 October 2015
Mean = 4.47